born April 12, 1853, Scone, Perthshire, Scot.
died Jan. 26, 1925, London, Eng.
Scottish cardiologist.
He received his M.D. from the University of Edinburgh and practiced medicine in Lancashire for 25 years before moving to London. His classic The Study of the Pulse (1902) described an instrument called a polygraph, which simultaneously recorded arterial and venous pulses so that they could be correlated with the heartbeat to distinguish harmless from dangerous irregularities. A pioneer in the study of cardiac arrhythmia, he also proved the efficacy of digitalis for its treatment.